


Cheery

by F1_rabbit



Category: Motorcycling RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-08-08 08:02:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7749772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dani's glad to be moving into a flat with another postgrad student, but his new roommate is just so cheery that it's annoying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cheery

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bavarian_angel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bavarian_angel/gifts).



Dani was looking around the small flat with a smile on his face. It wasn't anything special, beige walls and industrial carpet with a minimal amount of metal furniture, but it was the most beautiful sight to Dani. No more sharing a kitchen with forty other people, no more wild parties when he had an assignment due, and no more people stealing his stuff.

It was going to be just him and another postgraduate student, and that was it. It was going to be heaven.

*

Dani got back from the lab to see that there were boxes sitting in the living room, and the sound of someone moving in the other bedroom. He headed through to meet them, but the last thing that he expected to see was a guy who looked barely older than eighteen.

"Hi, I'm Dani." He tried to keep the surprise off his face, had one of the undergrads been given a place in the postgrad halls? Even if he wasn't as young as he looked, he still seemed too young to be doing a PhD.

"Marc." He had the biggest grin on his face and he came over, Dani was expecting a handshake, but Marc wrapped him up in his arms, hugging him tight as he stood frozen. "It's nice to meet you."

"What's your thesis on?" Dani asked, hoping that he could do something about this mix up before Marc got himself settled.

"How to eliminate quantum decoherence and minimise the number of qubits required for error correction in a quantum supercomputer."

Dani's mouth hung open, which was easier now that Marc had loosened his grip on him. "That sounds… complicated."

Marc laughed, a piercing noise that made Dani jump with fright, and that only made Marc laugh more.

"What about you?" Marc asked, when he'd finally got a hold of himself and stopped laughing. "What's your thesis on?"

"Application of telomerase in prolonging the number of cell divisions." Dani wondered if he should explain it, but if Marc wanted to know he could ask. There was something about Marc's youth that didn't sit right with him, clearly boy wonder was smart enough to be studying for his PhD, but he wasn't going to spend the year babysitting him.

"Immortality, nice." Marc put a few books away on the shelves, all thick with long titles and Dani raised an eyebrow. He wasn't used to people understanding him when he told them what he was working on, although all it meant was that Marc had read a few articles about it, anyone could understand that much.

"Not so much immortality, more just longer, healthier lives." Dani smiled, the longer they talked the more likely it was that he would end up telling Marc more and more about his project in a strange game of 'who's smarter' which since they were studying different subjects was a waste of time.

"I'm going to make a coffee, would you like one?" Marc asked, his big brown eyes full of childish wonder.

"Sure." Dani headed towards the kitchen area but Marc was faster, and he had filled up the kettle before Dani got there. He got out a couple of cups and Dani went to sit on the sofa, still able to see into the open plan kitchen so that he could make sure that Marc made his coffee right.

"How do you take it?" Marc asked, and he still had a big smile on his face. Dani wondered if it was just nerves, an automatic response to meeting new people.

"Milk, two sugars." Dani watched as he poured in the milk, not too much, not too little.

Marc wandered through with the two mugs, handing Dani his as he sat down next to him on the sofa. He took a sip, and it was perfect. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. It's going to be so much fun being roommates." Marc was full of energy and Dani could feel it shining out of him.

Dani nodded, hoping his face didn't betray his inner thoughts.

_Please don't let him be this chirpy all the time._

***

Marc's cheery personality wasn't a nervous response, or an act, he was just that kind of guy, and it was starting to get on Dani's nerves.

"Good morning, how are you today?" Marc asked, as Dani headed for the kitchen so that he could make a cup of coffee.

Dani let out a grunt, and Marc flew into action, even though it was early he still looked bright and eager, and Dani would have loved to have known what his secret was.

"I'll get it for you while you get a shower," Marc said, and Dani let out a little sigh, it was easier to let Marc win that it was to argue.

The warm water made him feel a little more human, and when he got out there was the smell of something amazing cooking.

A cup of coffee was waiting for him, along with an egg dish that Dani didn't recognise, but the first bite was like heaven.

"Good?" Marc asked, smile still plastered on his face.

"Thank you." Dani ate quickly, and he accepted the travel mug filled with coffee without rolling his eyes, but he felt like it.

"Have a lovely day," Marc said, waving goodbye as he headed off to his lab, and Dani wondered what he did to deserve this.

*

"My roommate is a nightmare," Dani said, as Jorge raised an eyebrow.

"Mine too. What's yours done?" Jorge asked, sipping at his coffee as he ate his sandwich.

"He's always so cheery, and helpful. He keeps making me coffee and food, and he always makes enough dinner for two."

"Oh wow, that sounds just awful." Jorge shook his head, and Dani could see him trying not to laugh.

Dani rolled his eyes and Jorge told him all about his roommate from hell.

"We were up for the same scholarship, and when I got it instead of him, he accused me of cheating." Jorge stared at Dani, waiting for him to nod in agreement. "So now I have to watch my back, and he keeps inviting lots of friends over to watch the football when he knows that I've got work to do."

"Oh." Dani looked down at his coffee, and he could feel Jorge's eyes still staring at him.

"If you want to swap, I'd be more than happy to do that."

"Erm…" Dani really did find Marc annoying, but Jorge's roommate was in another league.

"That's what I thought."

Dani looked up to see Jorge staring at his coffee, and Dani felt bad for him. "Do you want to come round for dinner tonight? Marc's sure to have made enough for everyone."

"Thanks but no thanks, I'm meeting my girlfriend." Jorge winked at him as he went back to work, leaving Dani confused. He didn't want to risk having a worse roommate, so it looked like he was just going to have to tolerate Marc for the rest of the year.

***

"Dani, Merry Christmas." Marc was dressed in his warmest clothes, his suitcases packed as he prepared to head to the airport. Dani had deliberately booked his flight for a different day, although it seemed childish now in retrospect.

Marc handed him a small wrapped box, no bigger than a coaster but thicker, and Dani looked at it with suspicion. Was Marc expecting something in return?

"I saw it and I thought of you," Marc said, smile on his face as he went in for a hug, wrapping Dany up in his arms and squishing him. There was the smell of something sweet, like sugar and cinnamon, and Dani ended up laughing at how fitting it was for Marc.

"Thank you."

"No peeking, okay?" Marc laughed, and Dani jumped, he was never going to get used to that laugh.

He waved goodbye to Marc and he headed towards the kitchen for a coffee, when he saw cookies waiting for him. There was even a little note, that simply said – Enjoy x

Dani shook his head, but it didn't stop him eating all the cookies. The flat felt strangely empty without Marc, and he was glad that his flight left early the next morning.

***

Christmas had been and gone, and Dani now had a keyring with the DNA double helix on it, which made Marc happy every time that he saw it. He'd thought about not using it, but that seemed petty, even for him.

They had settled back into their routine of Dani being grumpy and Marc being cheery enough for the both of them. Jorge had managed to get free of his roommate, and Dani was glad that he seemed much happier lately.

That night when he got home, Dani expected to see Marc bounding about, excitedly telling him about his new discovery, or making dinner with a smile on his face. But all Dani heard was muffled sobs, like someone was trying to cry quietly.

He rushed to Marc's room, tapping on the door before entering. Marc was sitting on the edge of his bed, tears streaming down his cheeks as he held his hand over his right eye.

Dani rushed over to sit next to him, slowly moving Marc's hand away from his eye, but there was no sign of injury. "What's wrong?"

"A few years ago I had an accident, fell off my motorbike, and I had to have surgery to correct my vision." Marc didn't move, he wasn't trying to hug Dani, and that made him worry all the more. "But I think there's something wrong, my vision is fuzzy."

Dani pulled Marc into a hug, holding him tight as he cried. He would do anything to see Marc smiling and happy again.

"First thing tomorrow we'll go to the opticians, and I'll be there for you, no matter what." Dani stroked Marc's hair, wishing that he'd come home earlier so that he could have taken him to the opticians before they shut, but it was too late now, he'd just have to keep his mind off everything for the night.

Dani made dinner, making sure that Marc was sat close by so that he could keep an eye on him. Now the tears had stopped he looked a little better, but he still wasn't smiling.

"Thank you for doing this for me," Marc said, "I know you don't really like me."

Dani froze, he didn't not like Marc, and the longer that they lived together the more that he learned to tolerate his cheeriness. Although he knew deep down the reason that they didn't get on.

"It's not that I don't like you, it's just that you're younger than me, and smarter than me," Dani said, "And that's a real blow to the ego."

Marc laughed, smile on his face as he shook his head, and Dani felt like all was right with the world, now that Marc was smiling again.

*

The next morning Dani had led Marc down to the opticians, holding his hand as they traversed the crowds, and the wait had felt like torture. Marc's leg was jiggling and he was biting at his nails. When his name was called, Dani had thought that he would look relieved, but he only looked more nervous.

"I'll be waiting right here for you." Dani chewed at his nails unconsciously, he wasn't sure what the outcome would be, and that terrified him. The next twenty minutes were the longest of his life and by the time Marc reappeared he was on the brink of tears.

Dani rushed up to him, waiting for him to speak, but he the longer that he said nothing, the more worried he was.

"What did the optician say?" Dani asked, leading Marc to a chair so that they could sit down and talk.

"I need glasses." Marc pouted, and Dani let out a sigh of relief.

"That's it? You had me worried," Dani said, but Marc still didn't look impressed. "Come on, let's look at frames."

It took a while to find a pair that Marc would even consider trying on, and Dani had to resort to trying on the most outlandish frames that he could find just so he could get Marc to smile.

In the end Marc had picked a plain black pair, the sort that a superhero would wear so that no-one would recognise them when they weren't wearing their costume.

"I think you look hot with glasses," Dani said, winking at Marc and making him blush. Neither of them noticed the funny glances that the shop assistants were giving them.

"They should be ready to collect this afternoon, we'll give you a call when they're ready," the assistant said, handing Marc a little card with all the details on.

They wandered back to their flat, Dani still holding Marc's hand even though the crowds had thinned now that the rush hour had passed.

*

"Thank you for doing this, I know you should be in the lab," Marc said, they were wandering back towards the opticians, his glasses were ready, and Dani was still holding his hand.

"I'll work Saturday instead, it'll be easier to work when the others aren't around." Dani stroked the side of Marc's hand with his thumb, instinctively sensing that he needed the comfort as the smell of plastic and chemicals hit them.

It didn't take long to get Marc's glasses fitted, and Dani stuck his tongue out at him, just to see him smile.

After nine months of telling himself that he didn't like Marc, it turned out that he liked him, a lot.

*

Marc didn't hold his hand on the way home, he was able to see clearly now, and Dani had to resist the urge to reach out for Marc's hand.

Once they were home, Dani thought about making his excuses and heading for the lab, but instead he just stood there by the door, as Marc looked at him with confusion written all over his face.

"Do you still think I look hot with my glasses?" Marc asked, biting his lip as he grinned.

Dani swallowed, unsure of what to say, but he didn't have to say anything. Marc's lips were on his, pushing him against the wall as he deepened the kiss, his talented tongue darting into his mouth as he let out a gasp.

Marc's knee was between his thighs, and he couldn't help but grind against him. The feel of Marc's hard cock pressing against his hip was all that it took to have him shuddering in orgasm, he'd have been embarrassed if Marc hadn't done the same, leaving them both breathless and gasping.

Dani pressed his head against Marc's shoulder as he laughed, it was no longer a jarring sound. He had missed hearing it.

"I'm so glad to see you happy again," Dani whispered, and Marc laughed some more.

"I think anyone would be happy after a kiss like that."

**Author's Note:**

> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


End file.
